The Circus
by Become1withSealand
Summary: The circus comes to town and Legolas learns dark secrets hidden away about the acts and what it is like to be in it.
1. Chapter 1

**Just thought this up while listening to the English dub of **_**Dark Woods Circus. **_** It is a great song if you want to check it out. This is going to be a trial chapter to see what you guys think.  
Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

"Elf, there is talk of a circus passing through the city." Legolas turned around and saw Gimli walking up to him. "That sounds nice," he replied. "Arwen and Aragorn were planning on seeing it and they invited us to go with them," his dwarvish friend told him. "That sounds pleasant, especially after the war," Legolas responded.

~Later that evening~

Legolas walked into the giant tent just outside the city walls with his father in front of him and Gimli following behind him. They took their seats. They were up front and had what seemed to be a promising view of the entire show. "I heard this is a fabulous show and we will not be disappointed," his father said. "Aye, I heard, also, they have creatures and beings you'll find not anywhere else," Gimli chimed in. Mirkwood's king sniffed and turned to talk to Elrohir on his other side. Legolas sighed. His father did not think much of his and Gimli's friendship.

The candles were dimmed as the last people found their seats. "Welcome people of Gondor! Please, do not try to contain your amazement. You will have many troubles trying to find the array of creatures we have here," a voice cried out. A man stepped out of the shadows and the elf prince heard many people gasp. This man was the height of at least five men and was wearing dress robes.

_That explains why the tents roof is so high, _Legolas thought. "And please, if you feel uncomfortable at all during the show, feel free to avert your eyes. Not many can take the sight of what we have to show you," a woman said. She was nearly as tall as the man and was wearing a traditional ball gown. Legolas looked at their feet, sure he would see stilts, yet he saw feet peeking out from beneath the cloth. "Do you see that elf?" Gimli asked in awe. Legolas merely nodded in agreement.

"Our first act for you lovely people will be our very own two headed person!" the woman exclaimed excitedly. _She says it as if she owns the person. _More gasps were heard as the act began. It appeared to be two girls stuck together. They looked to be identical twins, yet they appeared as one body. Legolas watched as the juggled and did many complicated tricks. It seemed as if one head controlled one side of the body and the other controlled the other half. They walked up to the group and peered at Elrohir and Elladan. The girls leaned in, gave both a peck on the cheek and cartwheeled back into the center of where they were preforming. The pair bowed and moved back off into the shadows.

"Now, prepare to meet a creature that I promise is one of a kind. The last of its species; the Chimera!" This time it was the man speaking. The conjoined twins and a cloaked figure brought out a new beast. Legolas stiffened and instinctively grabbed the hilts of his twin blades. The creature had the body of a gigantic lion, with a scaly underside, goat eyes and horns, and a dragon's tail. The twins gave a command and the beast opened its mouth wide, showing many jagged and pointed teeth. One stuck her head in the mouth and Legolas tensed even more, ready to stop the beast from biting the girl's head off. The tall man saw this and bent down until he was almost eye level with the elf. "No need to fear, she knows what she is doing," he chuckled before straightening back up.

The next act was a man who could regrow his limbs. They proved this by chopping off his arms and watched as his limbs did fully grow back. Many women hid their faces in their lover's chest, Arwen and Eowyn included. After that was a man who had antlers like a buck's. Eowyn was asked to feel if they were attached and she gasped, replying, "They grow out of his skull!" Then came a woman who was extremely flexible. She came right up to his father and turned her back on him. King Thranduil looked outraged that a woman would show him this kind of disrespect. As if sensing his anger, she turned her neck one hundred and eighty degrees to look back at him and smiled. She then climbed on top of the thin board of wood separating the actors from the spectators. She turned her head back around and jumped on a rope attached to the ceiling that the tall man swung at her. As the dangling rope swung back and forth as she entwined her body around it in impossible ways. When it finally stopped it Legolas was not able to tell where the rope ended and the woman began. Still smiling, she unraveled herself and finished her act with a bow with her head turned again to face the crowd. "

Now, here is a half-goat, half-girl bringing her beautiful voice to you!" A small girl who could be no older than twelve was brought out. She had the legs of a goat and the upper body of a girl. She looked at the crowd and began to sing. Legolas was entranced by the tune and he fell into the lull of her sweet voice. He heard the words, yet they did not process in his mind. All too soon in his opinion her song ended and she retreated back into the shadows. "Now it is time for our final act. It comes with a dread for this is the end, but do not worry. We saved the best for last. We bring to you, the Fire-Tamer," the tall woman cried.

The cloaked figure who had helped bring the Chimera out stepped into the light of the candles and removed the cloak. Legolas gasped at the woman's indecent dressage. She was only wearing a brightly colored loincloth and a piece of cloth to cover her chest. She snapped her fingers and sparks erupted from them. She walked right up to Legolas and began to speak. "Please, feel my arm and tell me if you feel any sort of oil or liquid on it," she requested, speaking directly to the elf. He placed his hand lightly on her bare arm. Her skin was cool to the touch and he could feel no coating on her. He shook his head and removed his hand. "Ah, the elf says I do not," she shouted for the whole crowd to hear.

She backed away and snapped her fingers again, this time near the cupped palm of her other hand. A small flame erupted and settled on her palm. She smiled as it climbed up her arm and wove its way around her neck and onto her opposite should. "Fire is like a wild animal. At first it is vicious, biting, clawing, and eating anything in its path. After you tame it, though, it is as vicious as a newborn babe," she called out. She picked the flame off her shoulder and tilted her head back. She rolled the flame off her hand and into her open mouth. She turned to look at the crowd with smoke curling out of the sides of her mouth. She drew in a deep breath through her nose and exhaled a ferocious flame that rivaled a dragon's breath of fire. Instead of going out into the crowd and catching the tent on fire, the flame curled around her body, soon enclosing her in a cylinder of fire. The crowd watched in amazement as the flame fitted to her body, creating a skin of flame for her.

"Is there a brave enough soul who will trust me and feel fire without being burned?" she called out to the silent crowd. No one raised their hand, no one accepted the challenge. "Not one of you trust me? Well that is disappointing and hurts my feelings," she pouted. Legolas felt Gimli nudge him in the side and the elf returned the action. Gimli did it again and Legolas nudged him even harder. "You two, you seem to be trying to get the other to do it. Why do you not both do it?" Legolas looked up and noticed with dread she was talking to him and his dwarvish friend.

She walked over, leaving a trail of soot-stained footsteps in her trail. She grabbed one of his hands and one Gimli's in each of her own and pulled them over the wall and into the preforming area. She ran her hands all over their faces and arms. Legolas expected to be burned, or at least for the flame to be uncomfortably hot. Instead, it was warm like a shirt that had been lying in the sun for a long period of time. It also did not burn his hair. Instead it wove through it and returned to its mistress. Occasionally, the flame would leave her and linger on one of them before extinguishing.

"Please give these two young fellows a good round of applause," she cried out before giving a bow, letting the flames around her burn out, and retreated into the dark.

**Sorry that's it. It is a little shorter than I had hoped but it's getting late and I still have some homework I need to do. Please leave a comment on what you think and anything I could improve on. And don't forget, you will all become one with Sealand. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, I found this chapter REALLY challenging to write to so please go easy on me if it's not quite what you wanted.  
Disclaimer: I do not own Tolkien's plot or his characters and this goes for the rest of the story.**

"That was a very good circus. I cannot believe some of those beings exist. And that Fire Tamer, I wonder if that was magic. It sure did seem like it. And the two headed girl, I wonder what it would be like if Elladan and I were like that," Elrohir said, chattering to Legolas who wasn't listening as they left the tent. They two of them had stayed behind because Elrohir had wanted to see if they had any food left and Elladan insisted he had to get work done. Not wanting to go alone the twin had dragged Legolas along.

The pair got to the place where the circus had been selling food when they heard a roar and a shriek. They ran to where the clamor had come from and stopped in their tracks to see the Chimera throwing the man who regrew limbs into a stack of boxes. The two elves moved to run forward and help the man, but he stood up, apparently unhurt, and ran off. A moment later he returned with the Fire Tamer and she ran to the beast. It had been chained to a metal block, unable to move, but as the woman moved closer it started to thrash wildly. In the process its chain broke free, enabling the beast to move freely.

"We must help," Legolas said to Elrohir, who nodded in agreement. They made to move forward, but before they could do anything flames erupted from the Chimera's mouth, engulfing many objects in flame. The two elves could barely dodge the flames, much less help stop the beast's rampage.

The Fire Tamer the whole time was doing her best to bring the flames down to an ember and calm the creature. Finally, she got close enough to the beast to grab its chain and tie it back up. "Shush, it is alright, I will not allow them to hurt you anymore," Legolas heard her whisper. The Chimera calmed down and pressed its big head against the Fire Tamer's body.

"What is the meaning of this!" they heard a voice shriek and saw the tall woman rush forward. Her movements were awkward as her legs were too big for the rest of her body. "I am sorry the Chimera got loose. Do not worry though, I have tied him back up and stopped him from doing too much damage," the Fire Tamer told her. The elves gasped as the tall woman grabbed the back of the woman's hair and pulled her off the ground up to eye level. "You know the consequences for doing damage or failing to stop damage to the goods. You will end up in The Cage while the Chimera gets his own punishment," the tall woman snarled. "No, please, he did not mean to do it. Something must have spooked him. Give me his punishment as well as what I deserve," the Fire Tamer pleaded. "Fine, punishment is punishment, no matter who receives it. I will leave you in The Cage and you will receive the rest in the morning." The tall woman dropped her and stalked off.

"Let us go help her," Elrohir whispered. "Wait, she is returning," his companion responded and just a few seconds later the tall woman came back with a small cage. It was barely big enough to fit a small child, much less the tall woman who was about to be put in it.

As soon as the tall woman was gone, Legolas led Elrohir over to where the cage was. "Are you alright?" Legolas whispered to the woman. She looked up in surprise and as soon as she saw the pair fear filled her eyes. "You must leave, now. Go before they capture you!" she warned them quietly, trying to turn to face them. She twisted her body painfully and Legolas winced as he heard one of her wrists made a cracking sound. "We must help you, now what is your name?"

"I have no name other than my title, the Fire Tamer, and you must leave!"

"Not until we help you escape."

"You cannot help me, no one can. Now go before I scream."

"Why would you want to bring them to us if you are warning us to leave?"

"As a threat." Legolas looked at her with a questioning look. "If they see you here they will catch you, if you are lucky. Now for the last time, go!"

"Not without you!"

"If I leave no one will stick up for the others." Elrohir started to tug on Legolas's tunic as a sign that someone was approaching. "We will come back for you, I promise," Legolas whispered before getting up to leave. "Do not, I beg of you. Leave and never return!" she called softly after them as they left.

As soon as they were safely inside the city walls, Elrohir turned to his friend. "What are you going to do? Going back would be the right thing, but she seemed like she really did not want us to return to help her." Legolas shrugged and slipped back up to his room.

As he layed in his bed, thoughts ran through his mind. _What did she mean by she had no name? Everyone has a name. And what did she mean stick up for the others? Why would the tall woman treat her like that? It seems as if it happens often, but that still does not make it acceptable. Am I going to go back or respect her wishes and never go back? The circus does not leave for another few days. Yet I have the feeling if she is caught with me she will be punished terribly. _The ellon stayed up all night with these thoughts bothering him. As the sun rose the next morning he sighed and realized he had made up his mind. He was going to help the Fire Tamer, no matter the consequences he would receive because of it.


End file.
